Social Experiment
by Anne-Lilian
Summary: Walter had once said that he doesn't have emotions. He has a high IQ and a low EQ. Paige understood, on an intellectual level, what this meant. She also thought he was wrong. She decides a little social experiment might bring out his emotional side. Set between episode 7 & 8. Fluffy one-shot


**A/N:**** First Scorpion fic, just a little fluff. Hope you enjoy!**

**Summary:** **Walter had once said that he doesn't have emotions. He has a high IQ and a low EQ. Paige understood, on an intellectual level, what this meant. She also thought he was wrong. She decides a little social experiment might bring out his emotional side. Set between ep7 & 8.**

Walter had once said that he doesn't have emotions. He has a high IQ and a low EQ. Paige understood, on an intellectual level, what this meant. She also thought he was wrong.

She'd seen Walter get angry, she'd seen him worried for his sister, she'd even seen a softer side of him when he was talking to Ralph. Walter may claim that he has no feelings, but he was lying. That was rule number one concerning the genius; Walter lies.

So she decided to conduct another social experiment. They'd been trying those for a while. Some worked better than others, but overall, he'd been more susceptible to the idea that he might not be as empty emotion-wise, as he'd like to think.

Paige had dropped Ralph off at school, Toby was off harassing Happy, and Sylvester was at his white-board, solving some unsolvable equation, while Walter was upstairs in the living room, working on something on his laptop. Paige sighed, put on her resolved face, and knocked on the doorframe.

Walter looked up, momentarily disoriented. He could get so involved in his work and his experiments, that the rest of the world just disappeared. "Paige, hi," he said, focusing on her.

"Could I talk to you about something?" she asked, stepping inside. She wasn't entirely sure how she was going to go about this. She wanted Walter to show some emotion, preferably other than anger, but how to evoke it?

"Yeah, sure, what do you want to talk about?" he asked, closing his laptop and turning towards her fully. It all seemed so professional, like she was at a doctor's office, that she sat down on the coffee table opposite to Walter, as opposed to sitting down on the couch next to him.

Paige said the first thing that came to mind. "Ralph."

Walter frowned. "What about him? Is he having trouble at school again?" _There_ was the concern she was so used to seeing. His reaction was so much like what a father would do, that she almost dropped this whole experiment, but she steeled herself and ploughed on.

"No, it's the same as always, but I was thinking that with the increase of my paycheck I might be able to get him into a private school." She'd been thinking about that for a little while, but hadn't actually started looking yet. "And Drew might be able to lend a hand, considering he owes me a few years' worth of child support.

Walter nodded. "You want some help analyzing the best schools? I could look at the science departments and see which ones offer the best curriculum," he offered. It was generous, but not the emotional response she was looking for. Time to try another angle.

"Yeah, thanks. You know, he looks up to you. You're more of a father to him than Drew could even be, he feels like you understand him," she said.

Walter did look a little moved, but just nodded. "He needs good role models. I'm sure Toby could give you a whole theory as to why."

Paige nodded, more to herself than to him and moved to sit beside Walter. Obviously talking about Ralph wouldn't cut it, even though the genius leader of Scorpion definitely cared about her son. She needed something else to evoke an emotional response, something he might not be able to control, something physical…? Suddenly, Paige was reminded of the time she and Walter went under cover with the help of Hetty, and she'd had to teach him how to hold her as they danced.

Paige smiled, an idea forming in her mind. It wasn't a particularly nice idea, but it _would_ prove to Walter once and for all that he had feelings, powerful ones, that he couldn't keep ignoring.

"You're smiling, why are you smiling?" Walter asked suspiciously, following her with his eyes as she moved.

Paige just shook her head. "I just never thanked you."

He frowned. "For what?"

She sighed. "Just… for how good you are with Ralph, for offering this job to me… You've changed my life, Walter, and I've never said thanks for that."

"Yes, you have, I remember-" he started, but Paige cut him off.

"Will you just let me thank you? Properly?" she interrupted, putting a hand on his to halt his protests.

"You don't need to thank me, Paige, I told you, I saw potential, and I applied it."

Paige rolled her eyes. "You had a gut feeling and you went with it. Now, will you just shut up and let me thank you?"

Walter nodded, but still looked guarded. All of a sudden, Paige started feeling nervous. Was she really sure this was going to work? What if it just made things awkward? Could she really risk something that had helped her son so much, just for the sake of an experiment?

Paige took a deep breath, and settled a hand on Walter's cheek. She could almost _feel_ Walter's suspicions rise. "What-" he started to say, but was cut off when Paige's lips touched his.

The one thing Paige hadn't thought of when she conceived this experiment, was the emotional response it would invoke in _her_. As she applied pressure to the unresponsive lips of Walter O'Brian, she felt something inside herself that she hadn't felt since before Ralph was born. But, obviously, it didn't get the same reaction for him, so she pulled back.

Walter looked at her open-mouthed, for once speechless. "I- I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…" Paige said, starting to pull away further.

Suddenly, his hand grabbed her wrist and tugged her back. Paige barely had time to register this when his lips crashed against hers. Without thinking, she wound her hands through his hair as his came to rest on her hips.

He was… not clumsy, exactly, but methodical, like he'd thought up a theory as to how kissing should work. Having had a lot more experience, Paige quickly took control of the kiss. She lightly took his bottom lip between her teeth, eliciting an unexpected moan from Walter. Scraping her nails along his scalp made him shiver and tighten his arm around her waist, while the other trailed up to knot in her hair.

Paige gently pried his lips apart and explored his mouth with her tongue. He tasted like coffee and toast, and she loved it.

She pulled back to catch her breath. Unconsciously, she had shifted until she was straddling him. She rested her forehead against his and studied him. Walter kept his eyes closed for another two seconds, before looking into her eyes. His pupils were dilated, and they seemed to be searching her soul.

"Social experiment?" he asked, out of breath.

She could feel every move his chest made, feel the vibration of his chest, as she was still pressed against him. And he still called her on her bluff. "Not sure I collected enough data," she managed to say. It was all up to him now. Either he called her bluff, or he played along.

"Well then, any true scientist would encourage you to go back and coll-" he never got to finish that sentence, as Paige once again crashed her lips against his.

Sometimes, the scientific route might not be the worst one.

FIN.

**A/N: Review!**


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